22 unique Grayscale Designs inspired by Japanese Girls (2 of each design included) printed one side of page

Color My Art: Japanese Girl: Grayscale & Underpainting Coloring Book

By: Ikuko

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a lovely set of designs based on the artwork of Ikuko. The designs are grayscale images of young Japanese girls. The girls are mostly dressed in traditional costumes though there are a couple which have modern outfits. I had never seen this artist’s work before so the beauty of the designs was new to me.

There are 22 unique designs in this book and there is a duplicate set of 22. While the images are the same, the first set of designs are printed grayscale on white paper and the second set is printed grayscale on black paper. The designs are moderately detailed and should be fairly easy for anyone who is familiar with coloring grayscale images.
This is what I discovered while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
22 Unique and original Grayscale designs of Japanese girls based on the artwork of Ikuko. There are two sets of the designs for a total of 44 coloring pages.
Printed one side of the page
Paper is typical inexpensive quality used by CreateSpace: thin, slightly rough and non-perforated. One set of designs is printed on white paper while the second set is printed on black paper.
Some designs extend into the binding but most do not.
Glue Binding
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page quickly
Water-based markers bleed through in spots and can pill the paper if too many layers are attempted.
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows on back of the page. India ink can bleed through if you apply heavily or multiple coats.
Coloring Pencils work well with this paper. I found that I could layers the same color for deeper pigment or multiple colors and I could blend easily using a blending stick; however, some of the darker areas of the designs had a tendency to smear using this type of blender. I found that liquid forms (Gamsol or mineral spirits) did a better job. This doesn’t bother me as I generally do not use a blender on grayscale designs. I tested both oil and wax based pencils. I also found that hard lead pencils (like Verithins) leave dents through the paper.
I like to use a blotter when working in the book. I use a page of card stock or several sheets of heavyweight paper under my working page. It keeps seeping ink and marring dents from ruining the pages below.